Shut-off bucket for windmills



(No Model.)

2 Sheets-8heet 1. F. N. MARTIN;

Shut-Off Bucket for Windmills.

Patented May 24,1881.

n. mans. HIMO-Uflmflllph'n Washington. a. c.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.-

F. N. MARTIN.

Shut-Off Bucket for Windmills.

No. 242,012. Patented May 24,1881.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FENTON N. MARTIN, OF VIRDEN, ILLINOIS.

SHUT-OFFBUCKET FOR WlN-DMILLS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 242,012, dated May 24, 1881.

Application filed February 3, 1881.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, FEN'ION N. MARTIN, of Virden, in the county of Maeoupin and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Shut-Off Buckets, of which the following is a clear, full, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figurel shows aportion of a wind millframe, the bucket-frame,and the shut-off devices. Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of the bucket, with a portion cut away to show the valve.

This invention relates to buckets used in regulating or controlling the action of windmills used forpumping water; and it consists in the combination of devices, as hereinafter described and claimed, whereby the shut-01f bucket will automatically free itselfot' trash, and yet will be several hours in freeing itself of the water.

' To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, 1 will proceed to describe the exact manner in which I have carried it out. 7

The difficultyexperienced in the use of shutoff buckets as heretofore made is: the trash accumulates in the bucket, and the action of the water forces it into the small opening in the bottom or side of the bucket so tightly as to entirely prevent the leakage or discharge of the water from the bucket, thereby holding the mill out of the wind indefinitely, and thus preventing the mill from pumping until the trash has been removed.

In the drawings, A represents the bucket, attached by a wire or otherwise to the mill, in the usual way.

B is a floatplaced within the bucket, and attached to a cone-shaped valve below the bucket by means of a wire or other proper connection (No model.)

passing through a hole in the bottom of the bucket. This hole 0 is made of sufficient size to pass the trash through, and the cone-shaped valve D is made large enough to fill, but not water-tight, the hole 0. If it be found that the trash "will not pass through the hole, it is evident that the hole can be made larger, and yet be filled, when necessary, by the coneshaped valve.

\Vhen the mill has pumped the tank full of water a valve at the tank, operated by a float, stops the ingress of the water, and the tank discharges through pipes into the shut-ofi' bucket, the weight of which, when full, pulls the mill out of the wind and holds it there several hours, until the water slowly leaks out through the hole 0, which may be made in the bottom or side of the bucket, when the mill again faces the wind and goes to pumping. When the water in the bucket has fallen sufficiently low the upward pressure of the float ceases, the valve 1) is released from the hole 0 in the bottom of the bucket, and the water, rushing out, carries the trash with it. Each time the bucket is filled and emptied the same result is obtained. The leakage from the bucket can be easily increased by slightly flattening the cone-shaped valve.

Having thus explained my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The bucket A, provided with the opening 0 for the discharge of water and trash from the bucket, in combination with float B and conical-shaped valve D, constructed to operate substantially as and for the purpose described.

FENTON N. MARTIN.

Witnesses:

F. MCKAIN, SQUIRE WRIGHT. 

